By Richard Hail
 Ron Hinshaw of Roger’s Rod and Customs Inc. is restoring a ’57 Chevrolet 3200 for the SEMA Battle of the Builders competition. |
Hailing from East Bethel, Minnesota, comes Ron Hinshaw of Roger’s Rod and Customs Inc. Hinshaw has always been into cars and performance. His mantra of “if you couldn’t buy it, you had to build it” has suited him well while fabricating award-winning resto-mods. He gets a great feeling of accomplishment when taking something broken and restoring it to better than brand-new condition.
Hinshaw wasn’t even looking when he happened upon this ’57 Chevrolet 3200 “barn find.” Once a plan was in place, he kept the stock chassis, boxed in the frame and with some help from an installation kit from Flat Out Engineering, he added front and rear independent suspension from a C4 Corvette. An adjustable shock tower was fabricated to house the Mittler Bros. 5-in. Hydroshox hydraulic coil-over shocks in the rear, in which a custom hickory bed floor was built.
A ProCharger D-1X bolts up nicely to the Holley EFI-managed powerplant, while stopping power is provided by 14-in. Baer Pro+, six-piston calipers. Modifications yet to take place include shaving the door handles, relocating the gas tank to the rear of the truck and adding a ProCharger Race Series intercooler. An American Autowire wiring harness will support the Holley touchscreens in the cab, in addition to other modern amenities. Once the sheet metal inside is finished, Knish Kustomz will deliver a custom, hand-crafted interior. A blanket of Chrysler Header Orange paint will be the finishing touch on this classic pickup.
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